


Chat Noir

by Erisette



Category: VIXX
Genre: Gen, leo is a literal cat, that's it that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 06:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19784992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erisette/pseuds/Erisette
Summary: Hakyeon had noticed the black cat even when he was a trainee.





	Chat Noir

**Author's Note:**

  * For [XILVerify](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XILVerify/gifts).



> Happy Birthday! I didn't get it finished in time, but I hope you like it anyway! ^^

_The gray city I’m sitting and watching_   
_It’s so loud and busy._   
_Give your hand to me,_   
_I don’t know what you’re saying...yet._   
_Take it slowly, slowly, slowly._   
_It’s cause the world is still unfamiliar to me_   
_(Blink blink blink blink)_   
_Blink your eyes and greet me first_   
_Then I’ll go to you_

_Just kiss my eye_   
_Like a green light_   
_You want me and you follow me_   
_And grooming grooming_   
_I’m jumping into your_   
_Cloud-like embrace and laying down_

_The sky I’m looking at,_   
_Sometimes it gives a cold gift._   
_Then from somewhere_   
_you call my name that you made for me._

_It’s cause the world is still unfamiliar to me_   
_(Blink blink blink blink)_   
_Blink your eyes and greet me first_   
_Then I’ll go to you_

_On days I wanna quietly lay down_   
_Under the afternoon sun_   
_Don’t bother me, ok?_   
_On days I wanna walk_   
_On quiet streets_   
_Then be together with me_

_It’s cause our languages are a bit different_   
_(Blink blink blink blink)_   
_Start with the blinking-your-eyes_   
_Then I’ll go to you_

_Still I feel strange and shy_   
_I’m waiting for the day you blink to me_   
_With your pretty eye_   
_And call my name_   
_So we can be close to each other_   
_And let’s be together_

_-Cat's Waltz by ONF_

***

Hakyeon had noticed the black cat even when he was a trainee. 

There were plenty of stray cats in the neighborhood that their company's building was in, natural little hunters subsidized by occasional offerings of food and water from residents happy to have rodent-catchers around. The black cat might not be a good hunter, though: Hakyeon had recognized it first from how skinny its lanky black body was, and certainly he had never seen it with prey of any kind. 

He wasn't a cat person exactly, but one of his sisters had a couple and they were friendly, eminently pettable little things. The black cat wasn't friendly; after he had seen it around on enough occasions he had tried to make friends several times, crouching by its hiding place, leaving little treats, making coaxing noises that brought his sister's cats running…but the black cat apparently had no interest in being friends. It didn't flee when he got close, but it did slink pointedly out of reach. The spiky hunch of its shoulders and its narrowed slips of eyes were a little sinister, and Hakyeon eventually gave up pestering the poor thing. He rather assumed that would be the end of it, although he did leave scraps of food near its favorite hiding spot on occasion, and then he was a debuted idol living in a new dorm with his members and he didn't really have time to hang around any more. 

***

Hakyeon was dragging Wonshik to eat a proper meal while Hyukkie was at class and the other two were doing violent things on a computer. Ravi was doing his best younger-brother grumbling, which Hakyeon professionally assessed as adequate at best, when without warning he squeaked and swung around to his hyung's other side. 

“What? What happened?” Hakyeon tried to see what had startled him so. 

“I don't _like_ that thing,” he groaned. 

Unenlightened, Hakyeon peered into the shadows of the building, still not seeing the threat. “What thing?” 

“The Demon,” he said. Hakyeon could hear the capital letters in the title. “It probably has rabies.” 

“I don't--” But then he did see it: the black cat, as scrawny and skulking as ever, watching them narrowly from an alley. “Oh! Hello! This is a ways away from your old haunts, what brings you here?” 

"Don't befriend it!" Wonshik said. "Wait, _haunts_?" Wonshik said. 

"He used to live around the trainee dorm," Hakyeon said. "Pitiful thing, you see it's ribs?" He crouched down to try and make himself less intimidating and shuffled towards the alley. "Are you okay, little friend? Do you need some help?" He tried chirping at it like his sister's cat did to her kittens. 

"You look really dumb right now, hyung," Wonshik said in tones disdainful enough to do Hongbin proud. 

"No more dumb than a grown man thinking a poor little cat is a demon," he answered sweetly. Wonshik grumbled but didn't argue. Hakyeon shuffled backwards slowly to not startle the cat, then stood up and grabbed his member's arm firmly. "Come on, the stand where they sell chicken skewers is right around the corner." 

"I thought we were getting 'real food' ," Wonshik complained stridently, though Hakyeon noted with fondness that he didn't resist being dragged at all. "Not street food." 

"It's for the cat, obviously." 

Wonshik's whining became positively tenor, but he didn't stop Hakyeon from buying the chicken skewers, and taking them back to the cat-occupied alley, and scooting forward on his knees and elbows to nudge them close to the cat. It didn't shy away, but also didn't make a move towards the meat: it just looked at him with its suspicious eyes. Hakyeon retreated and stood up, brushing off street debris from his pants legs. "It probably won't eat while we're watching, Ravi-ya, let's get moving."

"Finally." He didn't sound truly frustrated though, and as they left the look he threw over his shoulder at the alley was now more concerned than nervous. Dear soft-hearted Wonshik! Of course he couldn't help but be moved by a helpless creature in need. Hakyeon held onto his whole arm, barnacle-like, all the way to the restaurant. 

***

Hakyeon left food in the alley five more times, though only twice he was sure he saw the black cat and he felt a twinge of guilt each time for possibly attracting rodents. What would have been the sixth time, he instead barely stepped out of the dorm apartment building when a very soft _mrow_ snapped his head around: there by the entrance, tucked beside stairs was the black cat. "Hello, little friend!" he said in delight, then repentantly lowered his voice when it startled. "Sorry. What brings you here? Are you hungry? I left you something two nights ago, I hope you got it." 

The cat didn't respond, not even to meow, but it did bat at something on the ground that skittered across the cement to fetch up against Hakyeon's shoes with surprising accuracy.

"What's this?" He bent down to pick it up, and found it to be a phone charm. Not just any phone charm, he was shocked to discover, but  _ his _ phone charm--a little shiny star on a blue cord. He had realized it was missing just yesterday, and been terribly sorry to have lost it: his company as a matter of policy turned down fan gifts, but this one had been hand delivered to him by a solemn-faced toddler and he'd successfully argued that he  _ had _ to keep and use it. He'd never imagined being able to find the tiny thing again, and he boggled at it, then at the cat. "Where in the  _ world  _ did you get this?" The cat looked incredibly pleased with itself, sitting upright with its ears pricked and its tail neatly curled around its feet. The phone charm's tiny cord was half broken, and he tucked it in his pocket to repair later. He sat down on the steps and looked at the cat. It didn't look directly back, but it didn't flee either. "I must have lost it on your alley. How on earth did you know to bring it here?" 

The cat's tail tip slowly flicked back and forth. Its head was turned away but both ears swiveled towards him. 

"Thank you?" He cautiously reached out, half-sure he was inviting a shredded hand. The tail tip slowed but the ears didn't go back. He touched its head as lightly as a feather: stroked it once, twice, and retreated. The cat didn't lean into his hand but it didn't look offended either. " _ Thank _ you," he repeated. The cat stood, and stretched, and left, not once looking at him; but as it left it brushed, as if by accident, against his leg. 

***

After that the cat was as often as not outside the dorm when he left, although it never let itself be seen when anyone but Hakyeon came out. It didn't approach him, or give any gifts after that first one, and it never invited petting. But there it was. One evening Hakyeon had the brilliant idea to call his sister and ask if its behavior made sense to a cat-owner. She listened patiently as he outlined the entire story of his acquaintance with the cat, only occasionally asking a question. When he finished, there was a brief pause. 

"Congratulations on your new pet, Hakyeonnie." 

"B--it's not--I'm sorry?" She started laughing, then, and he had to wait for her to stop, smiling at the phone in confused enjoyment of her glee. 

"You don't pick a cat, baby brother, cats pick you. And this one clearly has. Congratulations!" 

"You picked  _ your _ cats!" he protested. "I remember you telling me you were getting my nephew a kitten weeks in advance!" 

"I went to get a sweet little girl-kitten and I came home with two rambunctious boys. The principle holds true." 

“You’re making fun of me,” he whined. “It doesn’t even like me!”

“If it didn’t like you you would never see it,” she said confidently. 

“Oh.” He ran the pad of his thumb over his nails, thinking hard. “If it’s my cat I need to bring it inside. It’s going to start getting cold soon, and it has always been a skinny little fellow. Will it have fleas? Should I take it to a vet? I’ll have to buy a litter-box, and toys, and cat food….”

“A flea-bath can take care of it. It won’t be grateful, but give it somewhere safe to sulk and let it get used to the house. You can wait to take it to the vet until it trusts you more.”

“Food? A bed?” he asked, incredibly grateful to have an expert to consult. “You’re my lifeline, noona.”

“Shut up,” she said lovingly. “Some cat food to start it getting used to is good. I doubt it will want a bed, just some old towels maybe. Will your company be okay with it, and you members?”

“Neither the company nor the dorm have rules about pets.” He went to the door and stomped into his shoes, already plotting the closest store that would have what he’d need. He was alone with the others out for fun or for work: even his fellow homebody Hongbin was working as a MC. There wouldn’t be a better time to introduce the cat to the house. “As for my members...I’m hyung, they will learn to be okay with it.”

“Brat,” she scolded. “Alright. Let me know how it goes! The kids will want to know their new cousin’s name.”

“ _ Cute _ ,” he said in delight, and hung up.

***

As predicted, the cat was not grateful for the flea-bath, or the regular bat, for that matter. It hissed and spat and struggled, but while Hakyeon got more than a few needle-fine lines on his arms above where the rubber gloves ended he was perfectly able to restrain it. It was quite a long cat, and probably would have a big solid body if it wasn’t so starved and straggly. “We’ll get you beautiful in no time, don’t worry,” he assured it. It had tired of hissing and was making just a little gargley snarl now as he toweled it dry as best he could. When he was done toweling, he took it to the living room and let it go. It promptly vanished under the couch, and he pushed a clean dry towel after it. “Not a problem, friend. We’ll get you feeling better in no time.” With a brief mental prayer to ward off ants he also shoved a little dish of cooked meat under the couch as well. With the obvious things taken care of, he settled down on the rug with his back against the sofa and turned the TV on at a low volume. 

The cat was silent as a wraith in its staked-out hiding spot. He checked a couple of times to make sure it was still there, but otherwise left it alone. He commented on the show he was watching, keeping his voice mild and even in hopes that it would begin to grow accustomed to the sound. After a couple of hours, there was a rattle at the door. “The kids are back,” he told the cat. “All at once--I bet they got dinner together, and congratulated themselves for leaving their poor hyung out of it.”

“N-hyung!” Ken caroled. “N-hyung! N-hyung!”

“Be quieter, you’ll scare him.”

“‘Him’?” Four voices said at once, and the kids all piled into the living room. They looked quite big and tall from where he was sitting on the floor, and he didn’t blame the cat a bit for staying tucked away.

“We have a cat now, kids.”

There was a babble of clashing protests and questions and sass. Over it all, Wonshik said, “ _No_ , hyung, not the demon cat!”

“The what?” Hongbin said mockingly, and got elbowed for it.

“He’s not a demon, he’s a little poor cat who adopted me and he lives here now.” Hakyeon pursed his lips. “I’m thinking of calling him Taekwoon.”

“That’s a  _ people  _ name,” Hyuk said, in the super-reasonable voice he used when being a little shit. Hakyeon kicked at his ankles, which Hyuk dodged easily. “Where is this fabled cat anyway?”

“Hiding from you clomping giants.”

“ _Hyung_ ,” Hongbin groaned: he’d zeroed in on the damp towel that was still sitting crumpled on the floor by the sofa. “No….”

“I’ll buy  _ all  _ the lint-rollers,” Hakyeon swore earnestly. “I promise, Bean. At  _ least  _ one a week. And I’ll get a new attachment for your vacuum especially for pet hair. I already gave it a nice bath, and a flea treatment too.”

“Fleas,” Wonshik said, in the voice some might reserve for ‘the black plague’.

“You still can’t call it Taekwoon,” Jaehwan said. He had wiggled over on his belly and was squinting under the sofa. “Cats need different names. Like...Shadow. Mittens. Sofa.”

“Our cat is not named  _ Sofa _ ,” Hyuk said indignantly, and Hakyeon didn’t bother to restrain his smile.

“We have plenty of time,” he said. The cat had moved away from Jaehwan’s reaching hands before Hyuk had restrained them, and was curled up in a solid ball against the shelter of Hakyeon’s back. He was warmed by more than its body heat. “We’ll think of a good name together.”


End file.
